Answers

Obviously apathy is one of the biggest problems. This forum was
announced at a very crowded and emotional board meeting over a week
ago and this is only the second posting. Very few issues or events get
enough people involved to get a real sense of the community. Yet
certain board members don't want to act on the information they have
on hand, but are always waiting for the 'whole picture' or listening
to the lone 'squeeky wheel'.

I really feel that the community ought to have a web site with
something like this to encourage participation for those who can't go
to the long evening meetings either because they have kids or have a
life (and don't want to spend it in extremely long meetings where
there is no closure or resolution!). We need a place to express
opinions and ideas which certain meddling members of the board might
not agree with. As it is now, you can't be guaranteed that your
requested article will even appear in the Crier because its being
reviewed by that board member. Actions like that (and the editiorial
incident) have the effect of quashing community involvement. (This is
not to in any way imply that the editor, Sonya Burke is to blame, she
has done a wonderful job of encouraging additional community input!).

I'm not sure I agree with "apathy". For most of us, its a busy, full
life. The decisions are largely left to those with the time and
interest. For the most part, they've done a good job (although
occasionally annoying some of us in the process). What we need is a
forum to get information and provide meaningful input that doesn't
involve attending a four hour meeting. A well designed web page
would be an excellent start for two-way dialogue. It would
supplement the uni-directional posters and town crier, and the
dysfunctional board meetings.

Perhaps the silence that we hear reflects the lack of substantive
issues - or at least ones that can be reasonably acted upon? Hey -
the place is doing ok.

A statement in the last posting, "The decisions are largely left to
those with the time and interest," struck a chord, because there is a
quote I often think of when I think about the lack of participation
(including my own) in Kentlands community issues. The quote is this:
"The health of a community is determined by the extent to which
citizens participate in community decisions" (Bazemore G, Day SE.
Juvenile Justice 1996;3(1):p.6). By that yardstick, how well are we
doing?

If the board stifles participation and/or acts on political motives,
this is apparently nothing unique in an HOA board. But we are not
merely a homeowners' association. It was intended that Kentlands be
"like a small town," and this intent is actually written into our
charter. My father-in-law, a lawyer, has noted that our charter is in
some ways fashioned more like that of a town than that of a typical
HOA.

Maybe, we need to take a good hard look at our charter and figure out
what "like a small town" means, when we are basically a homeowners'
association. There seems to be an inherent conflict between the
twoat least, the way HOAs are often run. If we could reconcile that
conflict, perhaps, in the process, we would develop an effective
paradigm for promoting rational dialogue and consensus building
within the community, in other words, an environment more conducive to
community health than the one we now have.

I choose not to use the yardstick of a quote from an obscure
publication, but the yardstick of what I see going on around the
community. I see a rather successful, yet developing effort where
most seem to be content either participating, or not as they wish. I
am still somewhat at a loss to see what all the "problems" are in the
grand scheme of things. Of course, the community, as with all
things, is not perfect. It would be nice to have a system that would
allow for more discussion and participation and we should shoot for
that. Unless I'm missing something however, we are are not a small
town, we are a community within a small city - and our efforts are
those of a homeowners association. Basically, lets work at the
marginal improvements necessary to help us a better community without
taking ourselves too seriously - and lets enjoy the place for what it
has to offer while we're at it.

Ouch! The barb, notwithstanding, there is no getting around the fact
that, by any yardstick, citizen participation in decisions relevant to
community affairs is an important measure of community health. And I
still agree with Mr. Janus' assessment that "the decisions [in
Kentlands] are largely left to those with the time and interest"
(August 18th posting).

On another issue, certainly, we are not a small town, nor am I aware
that anyone ever said we were. But the question I posed remains.
What does "like a small town" mean? This is something that has been
touted as a central part of Kentlands' identity ever since I moved
here, six years ago. As such, it is an important issue for us to
consider.

I think when people, like Andres Duany, uses the phrase "like a small
town" it is with the hope that a well-designed community will cause
its inhabitants to work together for the common good. We have all
heard stories from the past where whole towns have gathered their
forces for the benefit of something bigger than any one individual's
concerns. For many years this has not been prevalent in our
society. The lots surrounding our private homes in conventional
suburbia have been large enough not only to separate us from each
other but to require so much of our attention that any nearby public
areas became a smaller priority.

By bringing us physically closer together in a traditional
neighborhood, it forces us recognize the spaces that are not "ours."
It does not require forcing people to contribute, but I think people
will naturally take a bigger interest in public spaces that are
adjacent to their own rather than a car drive away. This is
something I also think takes time to develop.

Many Kentlands residents are just starting to feel comfortable in
their new surroundings. They have painted their walls, planted their
flowers and filled their empty rooms with furniture. Now, I expect
to see a movement toward looking beyond their private realm to the
public realm. It will be a very exciting decade to be a part of.

In trying to understand what it means for Kentlands to be "like a
small town," Diane, I would rather think of our public realm as being
designed in such a way that it will promote the kinds of human
interactions among us that are needed to foster a sense of caring
about our "collective future" (an explanation I heard Andres Duany
give in one of his lectures). On some issues there will be a "common
good" to work towards in our collective future. But we are, by
design, a fairly diverse community. Not every important issue we face
will distill down to a common good. I would like to think that, by
meeting in the public realm and getting to know one another, we will
also become more sensitive to, more tolerant of, and more willing to
address our diverse needs: all critical steps, if society is to be
truly "welded back together again."